Part of: Epstein files floor speech and Oversight briefing (Sept. Nov. 2025) · The Epstein Files Fight · Epstein & the Files Vote · January 6 & the Trump Relationship · 2026 Governor Campaign
Trump endorses both SC runoff candidates: 'These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff'
On June 19, 2026, four days before the June 23 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial runoff, President Trump posted on Truth Social that rather than choose between the two candidates still standing, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson, he would endorse both. He wrote that 'these were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did.' Neither is Nancy Mace, who finished fifth (about 12.1 percent) in the June 9 primary and has said her vote to release the Epstein files cost her Trump's support. The Washington Post had reported on June 16 that Trump was weighing exactly this dual endorsement. Post & Courier reporter Caitlin Byrd surfaced the post.
As surfaced by Post & Courier political reporter Caitlin Byrd, on June 19, 2026, four days before the June 23 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial runoff, President Trump posted on Truth Social that rather than pick between the two candidates still standing, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson, he would endorse both of them.
Trump's Truth Social post (@realDonaldTrump), posted June 19, 2026 and surfaced by the Post & Courier's Caitlin Byrd. The text below is quoted verbatim from the post.
In the post, Trump framed the two endorsements as a refusal to choose:
"I can't hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so, therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!"
He called the pairing "a Wealth of Riches," said "with either one you can't go wrong," and signed off "Vote for Pam or Alan." The line that drew attention was his account of how the field had narrowed to those two:
"These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did."
The two names did not include Mace
The candidates Trump says he was hoping for did not include the one who had spent months chasing his backing. Nancy Mace finished fifth in the June 9 primary with 57,332 votes, about 12.1 percent, and did not advance to the runoff. Trump had already passed over her once before primary day, endorsing Evette on May 29 rather than the congresswoman. Mace has tied both the snub and the loss to her vote to release the Epstein files over Trump's objections, telling supporters after the defeat, "I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election."
There is a further turn in it. On the night of her own defeat, Mace endorsed Wilson for the runoff, telling supporters she wanted "a law-and-order governor" and naming the man she had spent the prior year attacking. Trump's June 19 post backs that same Wilson, and Evette, and stops there.
It was telegraphed
The dual endorsement did not come out of nowhere. On June 16, the Washington Post reported that Trump was "considering hedging his bet" by "potentially endorsing both remaining Republicans" in a contest it described as tight. Three days later, with Mace out, he did exactly that.
Sources & related coverage
- The post itself: Donald Trump on Truth Social (@realDonaldTrump), June 19, 2026, as posted by Post & Courier reporter Caitlin Byrd
- Trump weighing a co-endorsement: The Washington Post (June 16, 2026)
- Runoff matchup and date: Ballotpedia, SC gubernatorial runoff (June 23, 2026) and NPR
- Mace's fifth-place finish and her Epstein framing: Newsweek, CBS News, and PBS NewsHour
- The earlier Evette endorsement / Mace snub: The Hill and NBC News
- Related dispatches: "I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election", the May 29 snub and the "crash out" coverage, "Buried the hatchet": Mace concedes and endorses Wilson, and the 2026 Governor Campaign entry
This dispatch catalogs a public Truth Social post and the public record of the South Carolina governor's race. It takes no position on the runoff or on any candidate, and nothing here is a finding of fact about Nancy Mace.
